The proportion of U.S. adults identifying as LGBTQ+ continues to increase.
LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to grow, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as LGBTQ+, according to the newest Gallup poll results that came out March 13. The current figure is up from 5.6% four years ago and 3.5% in 2012—Gallup's first year of measuring sexual orientation and transgender identity.
These results are based on aggregated data from 2023 Gallup telephone surveys, spanning interviews with more than 12,000 people 18 and older. Overall, 85.6% say they are straight/heterosexual with 7.6% identifying with one or more LGBTQ+ groups. Approximately 6.8% declined to respond.
Bisexual adults make up the largest proportion of the LGBTQ+ population: 4.4% of U.S. adults and 57.3% of LGBTQ+ adults said they are bisexual. Gay and lesbian are the next most common identities, each representing slightly more than 1% of U.S. adults and roughly one in six LGBTQ+ adults. Slightly less than 1% of U.S. adults and about one in eight LGBTQ+ adults are transgender. Additionally, each younger generation is about twice as likely as the generation that preceded it to identify as LGBTQ+. More than one in five Gen Z adults, ranging in age from 18 to 26 in 2023, identify as LGBTQ+, as do nearly one in 10 millennials (aged 27 to 42). The percentage drops to less than 5% of Generation X, 2% of baby boomers and 1% of the Silent Generation.
However, "if current trends continue, it is likely that the proportion of LGBTQ+ identifiers will exceed 10% of U.S. adults at some point within the next three decades," the Gallup release noted.
—Andrew Davis
